The present invention relates to a wall-avoiding, reclining chair, the term "wall-avoiding" in the art meaning that the chair may be placed with the backrest adjacent a wall and moved into reclining position without the backrest striking the wall. More specifically, the present invention relates to such a chair wherein the wall-avoiding action is achieved through a linkage system which projects the seat and backrest unit forwardly relative to a fixed base when the chair moves to the TV or advanced reclining positions. In industry, the term "TV position" is applied to the position in which the chair is placed from the normal or generally upright position when the footrest is extended. Beyond the TV position, the chair may be placed into advanced or more pronounced reclining positions culminating in the fully reclined position. Such chairs as described above, as a general category, are old in the art and in this regard, reference may be had to Rogers U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,071,275 and 4,108,491.
With such wall-avoiding, reclining chairs of the prior art, the chair is manually actuated to the TV reclining position in several different ways, one for example, utilizing a manual actuating handle where the chair occupant grasps the handle and rotates it to transfer a manual force to the footrest mechanism for moving the footrest to the extended position. In other chairs such as those disclosed in Re' U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,958,827 and 3,941,417, actuation is achieved by the chair occupant applying pressure to the backrest which, through linkages, transfers forces to the footrest for extending the footrest into the TV position. Another actuating system utilizes the armrests of the chairs such as, for example, disclosed in Rogers U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,869 for driving the footrest to the TV position. In all of the afore-mentioned chairs actuating systems, a certain amount of force must be generated by the chair occupant either through his back, arms or hands for physically driving, through mechanical leverage, the footrest into the extended position.
In the chairs of the above-identified Rogers patents, wall-avoiding action is achieved solely through the operation of linkage mechanisms. This is to be contrasted with the wall-avoiding chairs of the above described Re' patents which chairs utilize a track and roller system for moving the seat and backrest away from a nearby wall to achieve wall-avoiding action. Although not disclosed in the aforementioned Re' patents, there exists in the prior art, wall-avoiding reclining chairs utilizing roller and track systems, wherein the tracks are inclined for projecting the chair through gravity into the TV position upon disengagement of a pall or other catch which holds the chair in the normal generally upright position. In some cases, a spring is utilized to move the chair back into the normal position, when the occupant leaves the chair.
In many instances, wall-avoiding chairs which achieve wall-avoiding action through means of a linkage system are preferred over chairs which achieve it through a track and roller system. This is because a linkage system can be constructed to operate more smoothly in providing wall-avoiding action as opposed to rollers which at times bind in the tracks and also create undesirable noise and feelings when the rollers move over obstacles which have accumulated in the tracks. In addition, the use of a linkage system for achieving wall-avoiding action allows a smaller front-to-rear chair dimension, thereby enhancing the various styling possibilities for the overall chair. Furthermore, the linkage system for providing wall-avoiding action also serves the dual purpose of achieving the necessary reclining balance for the various reclined positions of the chair.
Turning now to the present invention, it is directed to a wall-avoiding, reclining chair which achieves wall-avoiding action solely through means of a linkage system as opposed to a roller and track system. More specifically, the present invention provides a novel and improved linkage mechanism including an improved actuation system which does away with the necessity of manually actuating the chair to the TV position through means of the backrest, the armrest, or a handle-driving mechanism so as to minimize the effort and attention required by the chair occupant to actuate the chair to the TV position.